About Navin Muruga

But life is never clear, explicit and straightforward. In today’s knowledge economy, we’re hired to solve problems that are vague, ambiguous and complicated.

For most of us, our education system has prepped us for clear, explicit and straightforward. A multiple choice question implies that the answer is in the question, the case studies we discuss have pre-determined answers and the assignments we work on have pre-defined outcomes.

It’s not surprising then that most of us struggle at the workplace.

What do you do when there’s no one to tell you how to solve a problem?

You blame your boss because you expect a […]

We like it clear, explicit and straightforward. Navin Muruga
2017-07-21T15:24:12+00:00

Motivation implies a desire to contribute, to take initiative and ownership. It’s the secret sauce organisations look for in their employees.

A TED Talk by behavioural economist Dan Ariely provides critical insight into employee motivation. His study of the issue has revealed employees are not just motivated by money or happiness at work; employees thrive when they’re making constant progress and when they feel a sense of purpose at work.

This isn’t really new insight. Most employee engagement surveys have been showing money isn’t always the No. 1 priority.

The key is to appreciate the complexity of motivation. There isn’t one factor […]

It’s the simple act of connecting with someone else. It’s essential in all areas of our life but for the sake of this post, let’s focus on checking-in at work.

To start with, a check-in is not task oriented. Asking for an update on a project at work or trouble shooting technical challenges your colleague is facing is not the sort of check-in we’re referring to here.

The check-in we’re talking about is a genuine open ended enquiry into another person’s well being.

A good check-in starts with a question like ‘What’s on your mind?’.
It offers the person who’s asking insight into […]

The ‘Ding’ on WhatsApp,
Coffee from the hipster cafe downstairs,
A quick 5 minute chat with a colleague;

These are the little thieves that steal from our focus. They creep up on us and take us away from the work that needs to be done.

However, the reality is we need our breaks. It’s unrealistic to be fully focused all throughout the working day. Breaks help us clear the clutter in our brain, gives us perspective and help us refocus on what’s important.

The problem is, responding to a WhatsApp message every 10 minutes while you’re trying […]